“I swear, the system is so fucked up.”

Your father is what’s wrong with the system. At least that’s what I want to say, but I can’t. Saying that out loud to Summer will ruin my entire plan.

Something inside of me shifts. I expected Summer to be stuck up, or exactly like her father. Corrupted and ignorant. But she’s far from that, and it’s making me a lot more curious about her and damnit, I shouldn’t be.

“Tell me about you,” I ask anyway.

She smiles. “What do you want to know?”

“Well, you were walking around in your pajamas. If I had to guess, you didn’t brush your hair.”

She gasps, flips the visor down, and eyes herself in the mirror. Her hands reach to her head, patting her hair down. “Oh, come on. My hair isn’t that bad, and my pajamas are cool.”

I chuckle and watch as her finger combs through her hair before her eyes move to mine.

She sighs and looks down. “My father dropped a rather large bomb on me this morning.”

My eyebrows raise to my hairline… this has my full attention. “What happened?”

Summer laughs sarcastically, but it’s sadness that fills the air between us. “I found out my mother cheated on my father. I guess she was depressed and I never knew. When medication wasn’t helping, she started using.” She looks out the window, twirling her thumbs in her lap.

“Do you blame yourself for not being there?” She looks at me with sad eyes, and doesn’t say anything. “It’s not your fault, you know. There’s no way you could have known she was depressed. Parents are pretty good at hiding it.”

Her tongue runs along her bottom lip as she stares out the window again. More silence grows between us. I want to say more, but I’m not sure what else I could say to make her feel better.

She breaks the silence, keeping her focus out the window. “My mother was murdered, and well, they want to close the case.” She sighs, shaking her head. “It hasn’t been long enough for them to close it. I just… something isn’t right. I have this feeling inside of me, nagging at me. I feel like it might be up to me to figure it out.”

I wasn’t expecting that at all.

“Anyway, enough about me.”

She stares at me again, and I can’t help but take her in, looking at her in a way I shouldn’t be—a way that wasn’t part of my plan. But I think it’s too late.

“Hey, Alec,” she says, bringing my attention back. “Will you teach me to play?”

My lips curl, the corners reaching ear to ear. “I’d love to,” I reply eagerly, but when I go to ask her when a good time would be, her phone goes off, and she glances down at it.

Her eyes pull together. “I’m sorry, I have to go.”

I force a smile, slightly disappointed that this moment is over too soon. She opens the door and bends down enough to look at me one last time. “Thank you for today.”

“Anytime.”

She smiles, showing a small sliver of her teeth, and then the door slams shut, leaving me cursing to myself. Despite my efforts to push these feelings away, I am falling for Summer Raleigh.

Chapter Eleven

Summer

It took me an hour to get home. Thankfully, the dirt was soft enough that tire marks were left in the wide path, so I followed those and made it back to the road within twenty minutes. I could have let Alec drive me home or back to Walmart but I didn’t feel right taking up more time than I had, even though we both seemed to really enjoy each other’s company.

More time means more feelings will sprout, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that.

When I open the door, Dad is waiting for me. He’s leaning against the kitchen door frame. He has his police uniform on. The badge is popping out from how tightly his hands are gripping his belt. There’s concern written all over his face.

My heart sinks, thinking that maybe I should have told him I was alright.

“Where have you been?” he asks in a deeper tone.